Major shareholders in the Russian oil giant Yukos offered Monday to cede control of the company in exchange for the release from jail of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Yukos' former chief executive and Russia's richest man. Prosecutors immediately dismissed the proposal as "absurd from both a legal and a moral point of view," Interfax news agency reported. But it is the first public sign of bargaining between the oil company's major owners and the government, and could lift the uncertainty clouding the Russian investment climate.

Imprisoned Russian tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky was slashed in the face by another inmate early Friday, one of his attorneys, Yuri Schmidt, told Echo Moskvy radio Saturday. A statement posted on Khodorkovsky's Web site said his attacker "cut his face with a cobbler's knife. When the aggressor's belongings were subsequently searched, an ordinary knife and a razor blade were discovered." Prison authorities played down the incident. One official told the Russian news agency Interfax that an inmate "scratched Khodorkovsky's nose" during a quarrel.

Prosecutors have detained a billionaire business associate of Russian oil giant Yukos in a move analysts suspect is the Kremlin's way of warning company chief Mikhail Khodorkovsky to steer clear of upcoming parliamentary elections. Platon Lebedev, board chairman of a Russian bank that is Yukos' majority shareholder, is being questioned about allegations that he stole $283 million in stock from a state-owned fertilizer manufacturer nine years ago. The move appeared to represent a not-so-subtle warning shot from the Kremlin, aimed at Khodorkovsky and any other Russian magnate vying for influence and alliances as the country gears up for parliamentary elections in December.

A court on Tuesday sentenced former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky to nine years in prison on charges of tax evasion and fraud, capping an 18-month prosecution that in the eyes of many cast the Kremlin as a predatory regime unable or unwilling to keep Russia on the path toward democracy. Once Russia's wealthiest man and chief of its largest oil producer, Khodorkovsky, 41, stared from the defendants' metal cage as Judge Irina Kolesnikova handed down the sentence. His wife, Inna, sobbed softly.

With top officials calling for calm, Russia's markets steadied slightly on Tuesday, after the dramatic plunge Monday caused by the weekend arrest of billionaire oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky. Stocks rose almost 5 percent after Monday's panic sell-off caused a drop of about 10 percent. Prime Minister Mikhail M. Kasyanov said the situation had been tense. "We must not panic," he told reporters Tuesday. "We must adopt measures to stabilize Russian financial markets." Meanwhile, Khodorkovsky remained in a cell totaling 5 square yards of personal space -- a luxury compared with the conditions given most inmates in Russia's pretrial detention centers.

Jailed Russian billionaire Mikhail Khodorkovsky stepped down Monday from the helm of Yukos Oil Co., saying he wanted to protect the company he founded from a possible political showdown with the Kremlin. "As a manager, I have to do all I can to pull our work force safely out from under the blows that are being directed at me and my partners," Khodorkovsky, 40, said from a Moscow prison, where he has been held for more than a week on tax evasion, fraud and forgery charges. Khodorkovsky said, however, that he intends to keep working through his philanthropic organization "to build an open and truly democratic society in Russia."

By Steven Lee Myers and Erin E. Arvedlund The New York Times, June 17, 2004

With the oil company he founded facing bankruptcy and much of his own wealth frozen by prosecutors, Mikhail Khodorkovsky went on trial Wednesday on charges of fraud and tax evasion in a case that lies at the murky intersection of Russia's politics, business and law. Khodorkovsky, the former chairman of Yukos Oil and still Russia's richest man, appeared for the first time in an open court hearing as teams of lawyers and a lone prosecutor debated a...

Imprisoned Russian tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky was slashed in the face by another inmate early Friday, one of his attorneys, Yuri Schmidt, told Echo Moskvy radio Saturday. A statement posted on Khodorkovsky's Web site said his attacker "cut his face with a cobbler's knife. When the aggressor's belongings were subsequently searched, an ordinary knife and a razor blade were discovered." Prison authorities played down the incident. One official told the Russian news agency Interfax that an inmate "scratched Khodorkovsky's nose" during a quarrel.

A European appeals court ruled Wednesday that Russia violated the human rights of Vladimir Gusinsky, the media mogul who fled into exile and whose television and print operations were seized in a politically charged legal campaign. The European Court of Human Rights agreed with Gusinsky's assertions that a criminal investigation against him in 2000 was politically motivated, finding that the state's actions "insistently suggest that the applicant's prosecution was used to intimidate him" into giving up his media empire, including NTV television.

Russia's richest man, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, will remain in jail for another three months, a court in Moscow ruled Tuesday. Lawyers for the oil baron, who have contended that the charges against him are politically motivated, said they would appeal the decision to extend his detention until well after the Russian presidential election. The Basmanny District Court granted a request of the Prosecutor General's Office to extend the detention period for Khodorkovsky to March 25. His custody was scheduled to end on Dec. 30. He is still awaiting a trial and no date for one has been set. "We believe it violates Khodorkovsky's rights," Karina Moskalenko, one of Khodorkovsky's lawyers, said of the two-day, closed-door hearing.

By Steven Lee Myers and Erin E. Arvedlund The New York Times, June 17, 2004

With the oil company he founded facing bankruptcy and much of his own wealth frozen by prosecutors, Mikhail Khodorkovsky went on trial Wednesday on charges of fraud and tax evasion in a case that lies at the murky intersection of Russia's politics, business and law. Khodorkovsky, the former chairman of Yukos Oil and still Russia's richest man, appeared for the first time in an open court hearing as teams of lawyers and a lone prosecutor debated a...

A European appeals court ruled Wednesday that Russia violated the human rights of Vladimir Gusinsky, the media mogul who fled into exile and whose television and print operations were seized in a politically charged legal campaign. The European Court of Human Rights agreed with Gusinsky's assertions that a criminal investigation against him in 2000 was politically motivated, finding that the state's actions "insistently suggest that the applicant's prosecution was used to intimidate him" into giving up his media empire, including NTV television.

Major shareholders in the Russian oil giant Yukos offered Monday to cede control of the company in exchange for the release from jail of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Yukos' former chief executive and Russia's richest man. Prosecutors immediately dismissed the proposal as "absurd from both a legal and a moral point of view," Interfax news agency reported. But it is the first public sign of bargaining between the oil company's major owners and the government, and could lift the uncertainty clouding the Russian investment climate.

Russia's richest man, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, will remain in jail for another three months, a court in Moscow ruled Tuesday. Lawyers for the oil baron, who have contended that the charges against him are politically motivated, said they would appeal the decision to extend his detention until well after the Russian presidential election. The Basmanny District Court granted a request of the Prosecutor General's Office to extend the detention period for Khodorkovsky to March 25. His custody was scheduled to end on Dec. 30. He is still awaiting a trial and no date for one has been set. "We believe it violates Khodorkovsky's rights," Karina Moskalenko, one of Khodorkovsky's lawyers, said of the two-day, closed-door hearing.

In a move that appeared to stun even some senior managers, the planned merger in Russia of the Yukos and Sibneft oil giants was put on hold Friday, delaying a deal that was expected to create the world's fourth-largest oil company. The decision raised questions about possible behind-the-scenes maneuvering by the Kremlin, which in recent months has moved to control the growing power of a potential $35 billion enterprise whose combined output would rival Kuwait. Analysts also said Sibneft shareholders -- including tycoon Roman Abramovich, owner of London's Chelsea soccer club -- could be looking for a way to negotiate a better deal, or back out entirely, after the arrest five weeks ago of Yukos' then-chief executive, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, on fraud and tax evasion charges.

A day after its jailed billionaire CEO resigned, embattled Russian oil giant Yukos appointed two Americans to head its operations on Tuesday, a strategic move analysts say makes the company a tougher target for the Russian government. Yukos' appointment of Russian-born U.S. national Simon Kukes as chief executive and Steven Theede as the head of a key subsidiary also appeared to be aimed at calming investors unnerved by the Oct. 25 jailing of its founder, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, on tax evasion and fraud charges and the government's seizure of 42 percent of company stock last week.

A court on Tuesday sentenced former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky to nine years in prison on charges of tax evasion and fraud, capping an 18-month prosecution that in the eyes of many cast the Kremlin as a predatory regime unable or unwilling to keep Russia on the path toward democracy. Once Russia's wealthiest man and chief of its largest oil producer, Khodorkovsky, 41, stared from the defendants' metal cage as Judge Irina Kolesnikova handed down the sentence. His wife, Inna, sobbed softly.

In a move that appeared to stun even some senior managers, the planned merger in Russia of the Yukos and Sibneft oil giants was put on hold Friday, delaying a deal that was expected to create the world's fourth-largest oil company. The decision raised questions about possible behind-the-scenes maneuvering by the Kremlin, which in recent months has moved to control the growing power of a potential $35 billion enterprise whose combined output would rival Kuwait. Analysts also said Sibneft shareholders -- including tycoon Roman Abramovich, owner of London's Chelsea soccer club -- could be looking for a way to negotiate a better deal, or back out entirely, after the arrest five weeks ago of Yukos' then-chief executive, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, on fraud and tax evasion charges.

Jailed Russian billionaire Mikhail Khodorkovsky stepped down Monday from the helm of Yukos Oil Co., saying he wanted to protect the company he founded from a possible political showdown with the Kremlin. "As a manager, I have to do all I can to pull our work force safely out from under the blows that are being directed at me and my partners," Khodorkovsky, 40, said from a Moscow prison, where he has been held for more than a week on tax evasion, fraud and forgery charges. Khodorkovsky said, however, that he intends to keep working through his philanthropic organization "to build an open and truly democratic society in Russia."

With top officials calling for calm, Russia's markets steadied slightly on Tuesday, after the dramatic plunge Monday caused by the weekend arrest of billionaire oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky. Stocks rose almost 5 percent after Monday's panic sell-off caused a drop of about 10 percent. Prime Minister Mikhail M. Kasyanov said the situation had been tense. "We must not panic," he told reporters Tuesday. "We must adopt measures to stabilize Russian financial markets." Meanwhile, Khodorkovsky remained in a cell totaling 5 square yards of personal space -- a luxury compared with the conditions given most inmates in Russia's pretrial detention centers.